Article Summary: This article is designed to address transferring Active Directory (AD) Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) roles from one Windows server to another

Solution:

In this example W08R2-DC.domain.local currently holds all of the FSMO roles. The roles will be transferred to W12R2-DC.domain.local using ntdsutil.exe. Follow the steps in the solution to achieve this goal.

1. Press the Windows Logo+R, type runas /user:administrator@domain.local cmd where domain.local is replaced by the name of the Active Directory domain and press Enter. The same task can be accomplished using the Command Prompt and Run as Administrator.

4. Type connect to server servername.domain.local where servername is the name of the server, domain.local is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the domain and press Enter to connect to the server the FSMO roles will be transferred to during this process. In this example the FSMO roles are being transferred to is W12R2-DC.domain.local.

5. Type q and press Enter to quit to server connections.

6. Type transfer infrastructure master and press Enter to transfer the infrastructure master FSMO role to the new server. Click Yes to confirm the role transfer acknowledging the Role Transfer Confirmation Dialog.

7. Type transfer naming master and press Enter to transfer the naming master FSMO role to the new server. Click Yes to confirm the role transfer acknowleding the Role Transfer Confirmation Dialog.

8. Type transfer pdc and press Enter to transfer the pdc FSMO role to the new server. Click Yes to confirm the role transfer acknowleding the Role Transfer Confirmation Dialog.

9. Type transfer rid master and press Enter to transfer the rid master FSMO role to the new server. Click Yes to confirm the role transfer acknowleding the Role Transfer Confirmation Dialog.

10. Type transfer schema master and press Enter to transfer the schema master FSMO role to the new server. Click Yes to confirm the role transfer acknowleding the Role Transfer Confirmation Dialog.

11. Type q and press Enter to quit fsmo maintenance.

12. Type q and press Enter to quit ntdsutil.

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